…I am reintroducing myself to you.
Why?
First of all because I like YOU!
Let me explain.
A few days ago I had a few minutes on the phone with fabulous Jen from CraftOmaniac.
Don’t you love her?
I do!
I had the chance to meet her for the very first time and share a wonderful girls night out with her yesterday.
I am so lucky… I know. I had a blast!
Here we are doing some shopping last night!
OK … lets go back to before we met.
After… I don’t know, a few minutes on the phone this is what she said:
{ Keep in mind that she had NEVER heard my voice before… }
“Oh, my GOSH! You have an accent!”
I had mentioned before that if you could hear me speak you will hear an accent when I talk,
but I think no one is prepared to know how I really sound.
How do I sound?
I sound like me.
{ one year old }
I was born on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean… In a small island call Lanzarote,
near to the North West Coast of Africa.
I spent the first 21 years of my life there.
A while ago believe it or not I was a little six years old girl that loved to play,
to spend long summers in the beach and dream BIG DREAMS!
{ school picture }
As a teenager if you asked me how did I imagine America
I would have probably described a scene of Bay Watch.
{ Sorry that was the closest thing to Google Earth back then }
My answer would had been something like this…
“Everyone wears red swimming suits and people don’t know how to swim that well…”
But what do you expect from a 12 year old…
I also spent my 80s in my little island… without an “accent” but listening for the very first time to tourists that had one 😉
And heck yeah with a Madonna attitude…
{ Los Carnavales! }
And before I knew I was 18 still rocking my wave!
I was all grown up loving the fact that I knew my world perfectly,
every street and every door…
every ocean and every shore…
every remote place of that small island that for so long I called home…
One day however I woke up and I realized I was in love!
In love with a man that had an American accent and go figure but he was in love with a girl that had a Spaniard one.
What a pair!
Yes… we got married and shared bellies.
{ My mon and dad with me at 6:00am, the morning that my handsome Devin was born }
And this same image repeated itself four times 😉
{ 6:30 am on my way to the Hospital with Mimi}
I am a blessed woman!
{ in the Hospital just minutes after our Mimi was born }
… Somewhere between those bellies something happened.
I realized that I had a new home and that somehow I was the only one with an accent now.
He didn’t have one anymore…
Confession Time:
I was back then a 20 something year old sad child!
For the longest time I hated my accent.
{ Can you believe it? }
It bothered me that I couldn’t speak PERFECTLY, that people could notice that I was from some place BUT not here.
I hated being different and I felt perhaps for the very first time afraid to speak.
I remember one day crying like a little girl inside of the bathroom of my first job here.
I had been in the USA for a few month and I felt like an idiot,
I could not communicate, I could not express myself freely,
I felt my accent and language was a thorn in my life and I hated it…
Between those tears of frustration and anger the memory of my grandfather came into my mind
and like a whisper inside of my soul his wisdom came to me:
“Desirée… why are you crying?
Don’t you see what you are doing?
Don’t you see that you sound just like me?
Like your mother…
{ my mom and I }
Like your roots…
{ my grandmother ( abuela ), my mom, me and my Saydi… Four Generations! }
Like your island…
You sound like you!
{ me }
I love this picture above because that is actually what happend.:
I opened my arms and my heart to my new accent!
I share this with you because I have noticed that so many of us have an “accent”.
Yes we do!
Some you can hear like mine… others you can see, like… a birth mark.
Some other accents we hide so well that we don’t allow anyone to see them for fear to be judged or to stand out.
The beautiful thing about our accents
is that if you really think about it Abuelo was right…
It makes you YOU and a anchor to those that you came from.
So I have an invitation for all…
LOVE YOUR ACCENT!
Love your YOU-niqueness!
Embrace it, share it, celebrate it… and hate will become love,
tears will become laughter, insecurity will become personality and fear will become courage.
And those around you will love you for who you are
instead of for how you look or sound.
I promise YOU!
Thank You Jen my Sweet Friend for a great evening!
Desirée
{ with an accent}
I think accents are so beautiful. To me they are as intrinsic and unique as a
Singing voice. Sometimes I fancy myself a collector of accents.
when I was younger and worked as a waitress I would love to guess
Peoples origins. And I’m not to shabby if I do say so myself!
I’m so glad you love your voice!
P.s. since you shared your accent I’ll share mine. You see I’m from the south
But my parents made sure I spoke properly with correct
Pronunciation of all words. But the one thing they could never stop is
the fact that when I’m tired like exhausted I sound Luke
Scarlet O’Hara herself. Which is a good thing because my husband finds it
endearing.
Ooh! I love Scarlet!
I wish I could hear your voice.
Thank you for stopping by my friend!
Beautifully said and it applies to us in other areas, appreciate and accept who you are! I used to live on an island too, in Alaska. What a wonderful experience!
Thank you Laura for taking the time to visit with me today!
A wonderful post. You have a rich and valuable heritage, one you can be proud of. You are a wise woman.
Thank Y♥U Ellen!
While in London a few years ago, everyone I encountered knew I was from Southern California. Why? I wondered. “Because you sound like people on TV” I was told. Even though I thought I didn’t have an accent, I did.
Since then I’ve moved to Michigan and while you would think that no one in Michigan had an accent, they do. It’s quite obvious that’s I’m not from here. They say I talk funny. I say they do.
I’ve learned that everyone has as accent, and I (like you) have learned to embrace it. It’s who you are and reminds you of where you are from.
So lovely. I will be sure to share this with friends of mine who have ‘accents’. Thank you!
What a beautiful post! Thanks for sharing so much. I happen to adore accents. We’ve all got them, whether we know it or not~
So sweet!!! I am one of those that constantly gets asked where I am from. I am have a southern accent and do not live in the south anymore. But I am really happy to hear you say that our accents anchor us to where we come from and those we come from. My mother always told me when I moved away after college, “never forget where you come from and never forget your roots.” I haven’t. Southern accent and all!!!
Thanks for sharing and beautiful pics!!!
XOXO Dee
Love this post Desiree! You had me teary-eyed. Beautiful pics, thanks for sharing.
Oh.My.LAWD! I LOVE this! 🙂 As you can see, hear, read, I TOO have an accent. A big southern one, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
This post seriously brought tears to my eyes Desiree. Very deep and thoughtful. It is so nice to learn more about you and where you came from. What a beautiful place! Thank YOU for being YOU! 🙂
xo~Amanda
What a beautiful post… I feel absolutely the same way!
I’m a portuguese girl living in England, so I know exactly what you are describing but like yourself, I embrace my accent and see it like a good conversation starter and an opportunity to talk about my country: “hey, love your accent, where are you from?”. 🙂
I’m just sad when I notice people turn their backs, ignoring or worst, when they notice that I came from a different place…
I’ve been to your home country when I was little, so I don’t remember much, but from the photos it is stunning – you should be really proud! 😉
Cheers!